The news this mornings that Nicky Morgan is looking to the USA for a new head of OFSTED will ensure that for the next few days the papers will be full of issues related to education. Unfortunately one of the crucial parts of the education system that usually gets forgotten in such times is the thousands of early year settings across the UK. The reasons given that Morgan is looking to the States has no relevance to this part of our education system. Yet OFSTED overseas the education of our youngest children as well as those in our Secondary Schools and even Universities. Throughout the education system there are many different challenges, but the ones facing early year settings are potentially the most significant. One of these factors is the rate of pay awarded to the teachers and other staff. According to a recent report, ‘In for a Pound’ The Family and Childcare Trust (Fact) discovered that nurseries and preschools that have been graded as outstanding pay staff an average of £8.37 per hour, compared with £7.44 for those rated good. Nurseries graded as “requires improvement” or “inadequate” pay an average of £6.92 an hour. There are problems when we take averages too literally and it would be wrong to assume that by simply paying people a bit more and not doing more that we could change a setting that has been judged as failing and an turn it into a success. However it would also be stupid to ignore such analysis. The professionalism of most modern PreSchools and Nurseries cannot be compared to their forerunners in the 1970’s and 1980’s. It would be wonderful to hope that whoever is recruited to replace Michael Wilshaw will be able to focus on the need to bring some consistency between the pay and conditions of teachers and support staff in our Schools and those in our early years settings. Even if that does not happen, this report should at least move us in the right direction.

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About ianchisnall

I have a passion to see public policy made accessible everyone who want to improve the wellbeing of their communities. I am interested in issues related to crime and policing as well as in policies on health services and strategic planning.